I ride a twin tip or surfboard depending on conditions, waves, etc.. I ride both a Tomo Vanguard and OR Mako 150 twin tip. I have a bad knee and when using the Vanguard surfboard, I have to come in much earlier than I would like to because of knee pain. When tacking further out in the chop, the bouncing of the board makes my knee hurt, but I don't have any pain when using the Mako TT.

I'm continuing to do physical therapy on my knee, but I was wondering if anyone has compared the ride of a Mako Duke to that of the Tomo Vanguard?

I think for a surfboard, the Vanguard rides pretty smooth, but I'm curious about the Duke just because of how smooth my Mako TT rides and they seem to be of similar design. Does the Duke ride smoother in chop than the Vanguard? How does the Duke handle down the line in point surf with side off conditions? The Duke seems to have a flatter rocker, and it looks a bit round to perform well in faster surf, but I'm curious if the outline and flatter rocker is much of an issue in faster, more substantial waves since it has such a big concave ?

I like the Tomo Vanguard, but I'm trying to see if there's something that rides smoother that might not mess with my knee so much in chop, but still handles well in the surf, or if there are any more traditional surfboard shapes that don't bounce as much in the chop?

I have no experience on the Tomo but I have the OR Jester and a slingshot celeritas surfboard shape. No doubt the Jester is way smoother and easier on the knees. It edges similar to a large mako so if you need to cut chop just lay your edge in and it goes through way smoother than the same technique on my celitarias.

My all time favorite board is currently a 2016 North 5'2 Whip. It's a Vanguard lookalike. Very smooth. Super fun.

I had the opportunity last fall to ride it back to back against the OR 5'6 Duke in thruster mode. The Duke was way smoother. However, it also felt slower like it needed more wind or more kite. It also had this weird rail to rail side slide over its full length when carving. It was not the usual locked in feel or skatey pivot I enjoy from my other sticks. Got knocked off the board a lot.

I never got a chance to try it in quad mode.

The WHIP is a way more exciting ride for me. I don't suffer from bad knees.

There is no magic board that does it all. I also have knee problems. I can feel on my knee the difference when riding Duke and the Vanguard.
The Duke board is an amazing because it helps smoothing the pressure on the knee when riding waves (no jumps or tricks) . My opinion is the duke is for small waves up to 6 feet.
What I don't like about the Duke is, it can't turn as smooth as my Tello white board. Also the Duke is very good at going upwind but not as good as the vanguard

I am selling the Duke and the celerites because I find the Vanguard and the Tello board a good combination for the waves I ride. If I have endless amount of money I will keep them all

If i am riding 6 plus feet waves (3 hawaii feet) all the time then I will choose the Celerites over the duke and the Tello white board

a hint to reduce the knee pain when riding the vanguard in choppy conditions:

First accelerate fully, even if it means you loose a bit of height. Board really needs to come out of the water. Then move your front feet back a bit, carve into wind to go upwind, and keep the front leg very supple. If you do it right, the board flies through the chop almost without bouncing, and gives you minimal strain on your knees

Thanks for the info and hints! I don't know if I'll change boards, but I was curious if the Duke, or some other board would work and ease my knee pain a bit. Unfortunately it just doesn't seem like the Duke would work in the waves we ride. I"ll probably stick with the Vanguard and try what mede suggests. I'm only about 5 months into riding a surfboard, so I still have a lot of refining to do. Maybe I'll get my balance worked out to smooth out the ride a bit more in bigger chop. BTW I did try the North whip, it's very similar to the Vanguard, but I think the Vanguard is a bit smoother and I seem to have more control with the Vanguard, but that may just be because that's what I'm used to.

Hi,
I purchased the Duke after reading and watching a lot of the reviews. It is true about how smooth, cut thru the chop and easy on the knee. It is a great board but there are better boards for surfing waves. These better board for surfing will never been as good as the duke in regards surfing on choppy waters. The deep concave helps heaps with the chop. https://player.vimeo.com/video/198471504
cheers

hello,
I have the Duke V1 and FW Vader.
Last year I had ACL knee surgery, so Im still sensitive to choppy rides.
The Duke is amazing board as far as comfort go in choppy wind waves up to 3 ft (aprox.) its my first choice.
However, when you have bigger waves or smooth conditions the FW board is hard to beat, but I can feel my knee not having as much fun...